All 12,800 voting machines must be ready by Thursday, and more than 7,200 have already been repaired, Central Election Commission (CEC) spokeswoman Stoyanka Balova said at the commission's regular briefing. The presidential election is on 25 October 2026.
This report follows our earlier story on preparing the machines, in which Balova told Bulgarian National Television (BNT) that the equipment would be checked and serviced and, where needed, repaired.
The briefing took place in the Cargo Partners warehouse, where the machines are stored. Journalists were shown how the machines are prepared and installed. Balova said the work is on schedule and follows the official guidelines. A full diagnostic check is under way.
The CEC oversees the repairs. An expert logs every step: the machine's number, the type of repair and the part replaced, if any. The commission knows at any moment which machine has had which repair, Balova said.
Last year the previous CEC and the Ministry of e-Government ran diagnostic checks on machines that had broken down in past elections. These machines had not been repaired before the public procurement began. Repairs started then, and the rest of the machines were also checked.